Mahomed Salim Dawood v Trustees of Rynsoord Village Body Corporate

The applicant, Mahomed Salim Dawood, is the registered owner of unit 13D in the Rynsoord Village sectional title scheme in Benoni, Gauteng. On 26 January 2024 at approximately 06h20, the electricity supply to his section was disconnected by Mohammed Mayet, a trustee of the respondent body corporate. The applicant sent a WhatsApp message to the trustees offering a payment arrangement in relation to arrear levies, but the offer was rejected and the electricity remained disconnected. The applicant then brought an urgent application to the Community Schemes Ombud Service under section 38 of the CSOS Act, seeking an order compelling the respondent to restore electricity. The respondent filed no submissions despite being invited to do so. The adjudicator accepted that the applicant was indebted to the respondent for substantial arrear levies, but found that the disconnection occurred because of that indebtedness.

• Whether the body corporate unlawfully terminated the applicant's electricity supply due to non-payment of levies.
• Whether a body corporate may disconnect electricity to a unit in a sectional title scheme without first obtaining a court order.
• Whether the applicant was entitled to urgent relief under section 39(7)(b) of the CSOS Act compelling reinstatement of electricity.
• Whether the applicant's arrear levies justified self-help by the respondent.

Application upheld. The respondent's trustees were ordered, in terms of section 39(7)(b) of the Community Schemes Ombud Service Act 9 of 2011, to reinstate the electricity supply to unit 13D before 09h00 on 14 March 2024 without charging any reconnection or reinstatement fee, and not to tamper with or terminate the electricity supply to the applicant's section in future without a court order authorising such action. There was no order as to costs.

A body corporate in a sectional title scheme acts unlawfully if it disconnects an owner's electricity supply to enforce payment of arrear levies without first obtaining a court order. The owner's access to electricity, as an incident of possession of immovable property, is protected on spoliation principles, and the appropriate immediate remedy is restoration of supply irrespective of the underlying levy dispute. Disputes about arrear levies must be pursued separately through lawful processes.

The adjudicator observed that the applicant appeared to owe substantial arrear levies and expressly stated that the restoration order did not exonerate him from liability to pay them. The adjudicator also noted generally that only relevant evidence should be considered and explained the balance-of-probabilities standard in civil adjudication. These remarks were ancillary to the dispositive finding on unlawful disconnection.

The decision reinforces a settled South African principle in the community schemes context: a body corporate cannot use self-help by cutting off electricity or water to compel payment of arrear levies. It confirms that CSOS adjudicators will treat such conduct as unlawful and grant urgent restorative relief, while preserving the body corporate's right to recover levies through lawful procedures. The case is significant for sectional title governance because it underscores that scheme rules or trustee decisions cannot override the prohibition on dispossession without judicial authorisation.